


And Love Away The Fear

by fictiongeek



Category: RWBY
Genre: Clover and Qrow get closure, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, they were in love okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:47:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22598059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictiongeek/pseuds/fictiongeek
Summary: Clover and Qrow say everything they couldn’t.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 103





	And Love Away The Fear

**Author's Note:**

> This is how I COPE, OKAY

It had been two days since Clover died, and Qrow hadn’t slept. 

He lay on the prison bed, staring at the ceiling. He could hear the sound of Robyn pacing in the cell next to him.

Qrow blamed himself. Of course, he blamed himself. That had been his only thought for three days. His mind went through the fight again and again, obsessing over every detail. He could’ve done so many things differently. He could’ve saved him. 

...but he didn’t, and all that was left was an aching hollow deep in his chest and an image of Clover’s bloody body in his head.

He could hear Robyn trying to say something to him through the wall. 

“...to get out of here. Qrow! Are you listening to me?”

Qrow blinked at the ceiling, not moving. “Do what you want,” he said flatly.

Robyn gave a frustrated groan and then sighed. “I know it’s hard,” her voice was softer now, “but we have to keep going. There are people out there who need our help, and I can’t sit and wait for them to be abandoned.”

Qrow furrowed his brow. “I don’t help anyone.”

“I’m finding a way out of here, Qrow. You can join me if you want.” Robyn gave the wall an affirmative tap.

Qrow tightened his fist, and felt Clover’s pin dig into his fingers. He’d wiped most of the blood off, but a lot of it still stained the silver.

He tilted his head and stared at the pin through half lidded eyes. “It’s always me,” he thought, and for the first time since his partner’s death, Qrow slept.

He awoke in a place that had haunted him for days. The soft sun was barely poking over the horizon, painting the snow lavender. Nothing was around, no people or footprints, except a bloody Harbinger thrown carelessly onto the ground in front of him. 

Qrow let out an infuriated scream, gripping the sides of his head and tugging at his hair. “I don’t want to see this anymore! It was my fault, I know it was!” his voice echoed across the snow, quickly fading over the mountains. 

“You shouldn’t do that, you know. Blame yourself, I mean.”

Qrow turned towards the rising sun, and felt a gasp get caught in his throat. 

His partner stood with a hand on his hip, a soft smile gracing his face. He was in his uniform, but there was no blood, and no pin either. He looked warm. He looked calm. 

“Clover,” Qrow finally breathed, “Clover, I’m sorry, I-“ he ran towards the other man, wide-eyed. “I’m so sorry, I should’ve-“

“Qrow,” Clover murmured, closing the gap in between them by taking his hands, “please don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong.”

“But I did. If I hadn’t teamed up with that bastard you’d be alive.” Qrow couldn’t stop his eyes from welling up. 

Clover rubbed his thumb across Qrow’s hand. He met his gaze...and he looked sad, sadder than Qrow had ever seen him. 

“I didn’t give you a choice.” His voice cracked, and it broke Qrow’s heart. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened. I refused to listen and I paid the price. And now Mantle is paying too.” 

“Clover...” Qrow felt like he was melting. He gently tightened his grip around his partner’s hands.

“Trust in James, trust in my semblance, trust in myself...” Clover sighed, “I always thought trust was the only thing I needed. That it would all work out in the end if I had faith,” he gave a dry chuckle, “boy, was I wrong.” 

“All of us were,” Qrow intertwined their fingers and looked sincerely into Clover’s eyes.

Clover lifted his hand to softly kiss Qrow’s knuckle. He paused, “...everyone is scared.” 

He turned to look at the steadily rising sun behind him. “And we’re almost out of time.”

“What? No, no, I just got here,” Qrow‘s brow furrowed.

Clover laughed and pressed a kiss to Qrow’s forehead. When he pulled away, the sun framed his head, a circle of light behind his warm expression.

“I’m sorry for what I did, Qrow.”

“Wait-“ Qrow’s body suddenly refused to move.

“You’re going to do incredible things, I know it. You’re more important than you realize, always have been. Those kids love you.”

Qrow felt tears running down his cheeks. “I miss you.”

Clover was crying too. “I miss you more,” he smiled.

Qrow sat straight up, the cold gray of the prison walls jarringly different than his dream. He looked down at Clover’s pin in his hand. 

The blood was gone, and the silver glistened in the faint light.


End file.
